Ashes to Ashes
by heartonpins
Summary: The Sakamaki household realized they have bit of a problem; their house is haunted. If a house full of vampires wasn't bad enough, now they got the paranormal to deal with. Their new guest is a bit of a prankster, loving nothing more than causing bits of chaos around the house. What could their reason for being there be? Perhaps it's time to blow the dust off forgotten memories.
1. Gravestone Prologue

_When I woke up, everything was black. Not as if the lights had gone out, but as if nothing was there to begin with. Nothing existed here. Even I didn't exist._

 _I couldn't feel anything but cold, the kind that seems to come from the inside out. Everything was numb, and yet, I felt only the chill of the stone beneath me._

 _Everything came into perspective slowly, little by little. I could make out strange shapes, straight, but round on top. Or square?_

 _When I reached out to touch one, a light came out of it. A small ball of light came out, floating in the air like it weighed nothing. Nothing at all._

 _Then there were more. So many, that I couldn't count. All floating around, lighting the area. Like they were alive. But they couldn't be._

 _All I could think of was 'Where am I?' but then it was replaced by another question. One that seemed more dire to answer. "Who... am I?'_

He'd done it again. He'd snuck out of the house. Right under the noses of all servants and guards, even his own mother and brother. Was he just that good at escaping? Not that they would wonder where he escaped to. Where they lived, there wasn't much beyond the mansion walls, save for the forest. There was a pathway that ran through it, connecting the house to the main road, which then connected it to the nearby town, but he never took that. It'd be far too easy to get spotted then. No, the young boy trekked it out on foot through the thick underbrush. He had to be careful not to scuff his clothes. When he returned he needed to look like he never left.

Escaping that suffocating house for a couple hours, or even just a few minutes, was more than he might have wanted. It was exhilarating. Out here he didn't have any expectations, other than to enjoy his company. There were no books to study or people to impress. He felt a little less like himself and more like someone he never realized he wanted to be.

Slowly, he began to hear voices. His footsteps slowed as he neared them.

"Hur-y up-! We've b-en wa-it-ng for yo-u all d-ay. " It sounded so distant and broken, like talking through a weak signal. The voice dropped out, picked up, and faded out again. Up ahead, two people came into view. They were close enough that he should have been able to see their faces, and yet, he could not. Not that they were obscured or some such thing. More rather... they were empty. Vacant. Like a portrait that had been scrubbed of all features. And yet he wasn't afraid. He had no reason to be. These were his friends. These were...

His eyes opened. The forest disappeared, the voices quieted, and he found himself back in his room. It was still night time, with only the palest light coming in through the window he lay beside. This sofa wasn't the comfiest of places to sleep but it was quieter here than in the rest of the house. The piano piece playing through his headphones was all that broke the quiet of the room, inside of his own head anyway.

He wasn't one to wake up so suddenly from a dream. He idly wondered what might have caused it. Maybe someone had entered his room and closed the door? He was alone in here and nothing looked different. A crackle of static interrupted his music. These were new headphones, the wires couldn't be fraying already. As he sat up to inspect them something outside of the window caught his eye. From the way his room faced, he had nearly a clear view of the street in front of the house. The street was empty. Their human neighbors habitually went to sleep at night. So when he saw the silhouette of someone standing beneath the yellow street light, he couldn't exactly find an explanation.

Their figure was black but crisp in the lighting. They seemed to be facing the house, with or without intent of walking towards it. A human might have reacted. Screamed, gasped, moved away from the window, but Shu wasn't one to react to.. anything. It would be a waste of energy to do so. He simply watched the figure a few seconds more to see what they would do.

The figure's head tilted, looking up. There was no definition of eyes, nose, or mouth. Just empty blackness. A car passed by breaking his line of sight. In the short second the car took to pass the figure had disappeared. The street was empty.

He had little reason to doubt his own mind. He knew very well what he'd seen. Still, doing anything about it seemed wasteful. He closed his eyes and focused on his music again. The vampire was unaware that something had passed by his window.

 _A couple nights later._

"No, that can't be right." Yui sat in her room looking over the assigned homework. She couldn't quite work out the equation. Or at least every time she tried to solve it the answer somehow came out different. She grabbed her eraser and scrubbed away her fourth attempt at the problem. Before she could attempt again, she heard something outside of her room. _Is someone running?_ She could only imagine one of the boys was up to something and her curiosity got the better of her.

But when she opened the door, the hallway was empty. Maybe she just imagined it? She was about to close the door when she heard the sound of footsteps again, and she could have sworn she heard a small laugh. The Sakamakis weren't one to laugh, or run in the house for that matter. How strange. Did they have guests? Deciding she could use a break from the assignment, Yui left her room. As she walked down the rug lined hallway she heard the sound of a door closing followed by the same same unfamiliar laughter. Just who would be running around the mansion like this? If it continued Reiji would be angry.

Her adventure took her to the end of the hallway, and as she suspected, there was no one around. She couldn't have imagined those sounds, could she? Maybe she was working too hard and needed to rest for a bit. She turned to head back to her room.

"Oi, Pancake."

Although she should have been used to it by now, having someone suddenly standing behind her always warranted a reaction. She turned quickly to face Ayato, standing in the direction she had just walked.

"Mind keeping it down? It's hard to concentrate on anything with you running around and making noise. What's gotten into you?"

"I-it wasn't me. It really wasn't. I was out here looking for who was causing it." Stammered Yui.

Ayato arched a brow and looked down at her skeptically. "And what, they just vanished into thin air? Got an imaginary friend you're gonna blame it on?"

"No. Ayato, I'm telling the truth." She replied indignantly. She found herself trapped against the wall of the hallway, Ayato's hands to either side of her shoulders.

"I don't take kindly to talk back, Pancake."

"Ayato, please believe me-" A cold hand touched her neck, moving her hair and collar out of the way.

"I should give you a lesson in respecting your superiors." said the vampire. His green eyes glinted with a dangerous spark. Yui regretted setting foot outside of her room.

"Ayato, how many times have I told you to act upon your interests in the privacy of your room." Ayato looked up to see Reiji walking towards them. He looked thoroughly disappointed at his younger half sibling. "To do this in the hallway of all places lacks all propriety."

"Dammit." Ayato moved away from Yui. "What do you want?"

"Only to ask you a question, Yui included since she is here. Have either of you been into my study recently?"

"Why the hell would I go in there?" Ayato answered with a huff. Put off by Reiji's interruption, he walked passed him down the hallway to the stairs, leaving only the two of them.

Yui recovered from her near-bite encounter and fixed her collar and hair. She finally spoke. "Did something happen in your study, Reiji?"

"Yes, it would appear someone thought it would be funny to turn all of my tea sets upside down in the cabinet. I've been looking for the culprit since we returned from school."

"Who would do that?"

"Exactly what I want to know. If you hear anything from those brothers of mine, do tell me right away."

Yui agreed, and once Reiji had left, was finally able to return to her room. She closed the door behind her and sat on her bed. Sometimes just leaving her bedroom proved to be a dangerous decision.

Reiji had returned to his study, unable to question his other brothers over the crime. When he looked into the room, he realized something that was off was righted again. The tea sets were all back to their original positions. His eyes narrowed. He didn't like this. Not only someone touching his things without permission, but that they did so undetected.

The following evening, Laito was on a search for something recently gone missing. He walked around the house, unsure of where exactly to look. He had checked his room three times over and retraced his steps to everywhere he had gone in the house since he'd woken up.

"Ah~ I know I left it in my room. Where could it have gone?" He thought aloud. "Puzzle books don't just get up and walk off on their own. I know I left it on the table." He had been close to finishing a rather complex crossword puzzle he had been working on for three days. To lose it now left an uncomfortable twist of frustration in his stomach. "Someone must have snuck in while I was showering and stolen it."

He wasn't exactly angry, but he was annoyed. So long as he found his book, all ill feelings would be absolved. He had already asked Kanato and Subaru if they had seen it. No such luck. It was hard to imagine any of his brothers would do such a thing as take a puzzle book. His adventure through the house took him around the first floor. As he neared the open doorway of the entertainment room, he heard a distinct sound of pool balls knocking into one another. Someone must have been playing a game. Perhaps they would know.

"Hey, I've somehow misplaced my puzzle book, have you seen-" His words stopped short when he set foot into the room. It was empty. The pool table was untouched, no one was sitting in the chairs or playing darts. But he was sure he had heard the sounds of the pool balls. He stepped further into the room to see if one of his brothers might have been hiding behind a curtain or chair. Nothing. He looked down in surprise. There on the cushion sat his puzzle book.

"How on earth did this get down here from my room?" Laito asked the empty space. He picked up the book, flipped through it to assure it wasn't damaged, and gave one last glance around the room. Someone was playing a very sneaky prank on him. He wasn't sure if he found this amusing or interfering. He pocketed the book and left the entertainment room. With his back turned, he couldn't see the pool cue rolling across the table's surface.

Coincidences happened all the time, but when they happened in a short time frame, coincidence didn't seem to be the answer anymore. At first it had just been brushed away as a slip of the mind, like distractedly setting something down, but as more and more occurrences began to line up, a collective thought of suspicion began to creep through the house. Items were going missing, only to turn up in odd locations. Small things like books, papers, or other personal belongings would all together vanish and be discovered somewhere else in the house. Small items would appear to move just out of reach when one glanced away. Inconsequential things by themselves, but in the span of a few days?

Yui felt very uneasy at the thought. If none of the brothers were pulling these pranks, then who was? The thought gave her goosebumps. They hadn't seen anyone else in the house. Who would dare to enter a mansion full of vampires? Encountering something one couldn't see. It gave her a feeling of helplessness, which was a feat considering her current living situation. She didn't want to think about it. Thinking about it might draw it out. But it was hard not to think about the strange things going on. Every noise, every sound, it seemed amplified. The sounds of the house settling took on a whole different impression.

Her bedroom brought a feeling of sanctuary from all of this. She just wanted to run back and hide for the rest of the night. Her pace was quick but when she passed by the window, she couldn't help but stop. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight outside. There was someone standing by the fountain in the back garden. She was sure of it. Their clothes were unfamiliar. She couldn't see their face, they were facing the fountain and bending over.

Someone was on the their property, which would result in a very bad punishment if they were caught by one of the brothers. Against her better judgement, Yui turned around and jogged to the large double doors leading to the backyard. She took only a minute at most to reach the other end of the house, and upon stepping outside into the garden, she discovered it to be empty. There was no one near the fountain and no sign that anyone had been walking around. It was a large enough property that even fleeing she might have seen tail of them.

She had a feeling of worry, paranoia. How could someone disappear so quickly? Rather than stay and ask questions to no one, she decided she was better off staying in her room until all of this hopefully blew over. Returning to her previous route, Yui walked along the hallway. There were many times in the Sakamaki mansion where Yui could feel nothing but dread. The threat of being bled dry always paired with a specific feeling that crept into her body. That wasn't anything like what she was feeling at that moment.

She had stopped walking without realizing it. Her knees locked up. She couldn't move. But inside she felt as if her insides were twisting, her muscles suddenly twitching to run. She hadn't heard or seen anything. She simply felt terror. The terror that something, not like a vampire, was suddenly very, very close. There was no one ahead of her, leaving only one possible location. There was someone behind her, in her complete blind spot. Every sense she had in her mind was screaming. The seconds ticked on, she held her breath, she felt she might faint. She could feel the sensation of someone watching, their eyes staring at her back. Finally, she brought herself to look over her shoulder. Empty. The hallway was empty. Something inside her clicked and her legs felt free again. She bolted down the hallway. If Reiji was upset, she wouldn't mind- she wouldn't care-, but she couldn't run fast enough back to her room.

Naturally, she had been unable to get a good day's rest. How could she? With the threat of someone possibly being in her room at any time looming around, it was hard to find a peaceful thought. She didn't experience that feeling again that night, she used that as a safety gauge. Her constant loss of focus made her homework assignment nearly impossible to complete. By he time she had gone to bed, the sun was already up. Now she had to wake and get dressed for a long night of school and the Sakamakis. Her body ached with exhaustion.

Once she finished getting ready, she collected her school bag and left her bedroom. Even from the second floor, she could hear an ongoing argument from downstairs.

"Just give it back already!" Shouted Ayato.

"Why would I take your dirty magazine?!" Retorted Subaru.

Their argument was cut off by a sharp quip from Reiji. It was time to leave. Yui was the last to join the group as they exited the house and filed into the limosine. Yui stopped in shock.

"My homework!" She gasped. "Reiji, I forgot my homework on my desk, can I run back to get it?"

"Yes, but hurry up. If we're late for school you'll be punished for it."

With that incentive, Yui was quick on her feet. She entered the front door of the house and paused. She didn't really want to go back up into the house. It suddenly seemed ominous now. To be left alone in here, she couldn't imagine it. She took a deep breath. She needed her homework.

The sound of pages flipping broke the quiet of the entrance hall. Yui looked around but there was no one on the first floor that she could see. She looked up the stairs and was met with a surprise. Sitting on the railing of the second floor landing as a shadowy figure. In their hands, the pages of the magazine flipped of its own accord. Yui looked on at the figure, sitting so precariously on the railing that if they leaned too far, they'd surely fall. Yet they didn't seem at all worried. No matter how hard Yui focused on them, she couldn't get a clear image. It was as if they were out of focus, or overlapped several times.

"Who are..."

Her question was stopped short by an amused laugh, and a cold sensation bled through her body. The magazine plummeted to the first floor and landed limply on the ground. Yui still needed to collect her paper, but she felt less keen on going up the stairs now. She had taken so long that Reiji called from outside. Yui had been about to forsake the homework when the figure raised a pointer finger and pointed behind her. There was a soft flutter of paper. Looking over her shoulder, Yui noticed a paper on the small table that hadn't been there before. When she picked it up, she said quietly, "My homework...?" She looked back up to where they were sitting, but there was no one on the railing.

The car ride to school was usually a quiet one but this time there was an added hint of tension caused by the goings on of the house.

"Nn~, you're awfully quiet today, Little Bitch." said Laito, his voice reminding her oddly of the one she had heard only minutes before. Amused, when there was really no reason to be. She felt the sensation of chills down her spine. She tried to steady her breath. Her knees where shaking.

"It's nothing. Just back in the house... I thought I saw something."

"Hm? Like what?"

"I-I'm not sure..." She didn't want to talk about it.

Ayato cut into their conversation. "Something is wrong with that house. It's giving me the creeps lately. Why does stuff keep disappearing?"

"It feels like someone is watching us. Do you think it could be haunted?" asked Kanato, hugging his Teddy close to him.

"Haunted? Don't be ridiculous." said Reiji, his hand to his glasses again. "There is no such thing."

"If it's ghosts you're afraid of, Little Bitch, you can sleep with me. I'll keep you safe."

Yui didn't reply. In all honesty, she would have rather been at the hands of a ghost person than any of the vampires she was living with. But she couldn't say something like that out loud. Even when they arrived at school and first classes began, Yui couldn't get the word 'ghost' out of her head. Could their house really be haunted?

Meanwhile, back in the now vacant Sakamaki house, a soft laugh rang through the first floor, a curtain moved as if someone walked by, and one of the benches sitting in the hallway began to scoot away.

* * *

Remember how I uploaded another fanfic for the trash heap that is this game? I decided to redo it. It wasn't fully showing what I was envisioning so I took down the old one, re did a bunch of stuff and added a load of things I thought up after. Hopefully this go around will be better.

For those of you who read the previous few chapters, **no spoilers in the reviews please**. Let's pretend this is a whole new fanfic I'm working on okay.

icantbelieveimwritingthis

I was trying to force myself to wait until I had more written up but I'm just too excited I gotta post up at least the first chapter while I work everything else out. I'm having too much fun writing this and I hope people enjoy reading it eAe.


	2. Gravestone 1

No one believed her, no matter how many times she insisted she might have seen something. Someone _had_ been in the garden, standing right beside the fountain. And someone had to have been on the stair railing. She couldn't have imagined it. Could she? Days passed since the incident and her conviction was starting to waver. Maybe she had been imagining it. Her mind was playing tricks. Living in a house full of vampires, rather cruel ones at that, and attending a prestigious night school could put a lot of stress on a person. However, that didn't explain the other strange goings on around the house.

Maybe it was a sort of relief, knowing that all this wasn't just in her head. Although it was very strange to consider. Was it better thinking their house was haunted, or _knowing_ their house was haunted?

Her room was quiet, save for the pencil scratches on her worksheet. Perhaps it was the stillness of her room, or that her mind was distracted with the subject material, but she caught the tail end of a sound. Small, so much so it would have been inconsequential under normal circumstances. But lately, even the smallest of sounds seemed menacing, a warning for something. She stopped writing. Her hand was frozen. Her breath caught. She remained so still she might have been a statue. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound. Her room was as quiet as it was before.

Maybe it's just the house settling, she thought after a moment. Reiji had said something to that effect the last time she had brought up hearing strange noises every now and then. 'This is a house of no modest size. It's bound to make some noise here and there. It's nothing to worry about.' Those were the words he said. Remembering them brought some comfort and she consoled herself in that explanation. Only the house settling, nothing more. She returned to her homework, her pencil scratching filling the room again. Maybe she could turn on some music to fill in the quiet?

She reached for her eraser but her hand was still shaking. Her fingers fumbled and it bounced from her desk onto the floor beside her chair. She leaned down to pick it up. Someone was sitting on her bed. Granted, her response was probably warranted. She had been so tense lately with what had been happening that she jumped at even the smallest noise or voice. She stood straight up from her chair, so fast it nearly toppled over. It took her a few heart pounding seconds to realize who she was looking at.

"Are you that scared of me, Pancake? It's a good look on you. You should wear it more often."

"A-Ayato. What... are you doing in my room?" She knew the reason why, but the question still had to be asked. She considered her room her sanctuary, a place where if these vampires had any morals - which she constantly brought into question when she was alone - they would at least allow her this place.

The vampire said nothing. In fact, he didn't seem it was worth it to grace her with a response. He remained still, sitting on her bed with one knee bent so his shoe was on her duvet cover. Finally he stood up, and in that strange way of being able to move without moving, he was in front of her. "Let's pick up where we were so rudely interrupted the other day, shall we?"

Yui tried to take a step back but found herself trapped between him and the desk behind her. She had little means of escape as the door to her room was behind him, and even if she did, where could she run to?

Ayato had lifted a hand to push her hair away from her shoulder. His green eyes glinted dangerously, looking at her only as an object, a possession. He tugged at her collar next, shifting the fabric so it exposed her neck and shoulder. She tried to form some way of defense, to grab his hand and move it away but he only brushed it aside. He grabbed the upper part of both her arms with his hands, tight enough that the shock of pain sent a message to her. Resist and he'd only make it hurt worse.

She couldn't fight back, not if she wanted to be functional enough to attend school the next day. She could feel the passing breath as Ayato leaned down, his mouth open. She didn't have to see his fangs to get the unsettling sensation they were only and inch from her skin. His breath was warm against her exposed neck. She tensed, feeling two tiny pinpricks barely begin to apply pressure. It would be over soon, he'd leave her alone for a while afterwards. It'll be over soon.

Something moved across the room. The sound of fabric fluttering caught Ayato's attention and he stopped. The drapes of the bed had moved, just enough as if someone had walked by. The pencil on Yui's desk rolled off and landed on the floor. The back of Ayato's shirt lifted just slightly and the boy suddenly stood straight, a hand flying to the small of his back.

"What the-! Who pinched me?" He exclaimed. Even he could tell he had held down Yui's arms, she couldn't have reached around him. He stood back from her and looked around the room for the culprit. If it was one of his brothers...

He glanced towards the door, which was now open just a crack. Standing just beyond was a shadowy figure, looking into the room. As soon as Ayato had made eye contact, they disappeared, moving visibly away from the door. There was a sound of muted footsteps on the carpet lining the hallway. Altogether forgetting about Yui, Ayato let her go and gave chase out of her room. He threw open the door and turned left to follow the figure. Yui stood alone in her room, hair and clothes disheveled, having believed she would have met a horrible fate that evening. Now she simply stood there at her desk, wondering what on earth she had just seen.

Ayato raced down the hallway until he was met with the dead end. He hadn't seen the figure since looking at the door, how could they have disappeared so quickly? They must have run into one of the rooms lining either side of the hallway. If they didn't want to meet their end with Ayato, they probably would with one of his brothers. Ayato wanted to have the bragging rights of getting rid of their pest, however. He wasn't going to let one of his brothers hold that over his head for the rest of eternity.

He turned back to see where their pest might have gone, maybe he missed a possible exit that wasn't one of the bedrooms? He'd start searching every room if he needed. As he began retracing his steps, a door behind him opened, followed by the one directly across from it. Passing across the hall, a figure walked quickly. As soon as it left the first door, it slammed shut. Ayato was alerted and whipped his head around. He saw the second door close. He grinned. Their pest wasn't very good at their game of hide-and-seek. He would have their head on a platter soon.

He entered the second door and looked around the dimly lit room. It was an old study room. The walls were lined with old dusty books none of them bothered reading - well maybe Reiji still did. The room hadn't been touched in years. Ayato even forgot this room existed until now. He sniffed slightly at the choking smell of dust. With the way the room was set up, there was no place for someone to hide.

He stood in the middle of the room to get a clear look of where they might be hiding or if they tried to make a break for the door. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." He taunted, then hissed. "You little brat. No one touches Your's Truly and gets away with it. If you come out now, maybe I won't drain you dry."

Nothing. The room was silent. Maybe they had tricked him into entering an empty room?

Something behind him rattled, a sort of shuffling noise a book might make when being pulled or pushed into a shelf, only more hectic. He had little time to find where the noise was coming from when there was a sound of sudden movement and something collided with the side of his head. The sharp pain caused him to yelp slightly and clasp a hand to the right side of his skull. A book landed on the floor, nearly hitting his foot for good measure, with the cover facing upwards. The title read 'Manners in Minutes'.

A couple days later, Yui still couldn't get the scene out of her head. Sitting in class, her mind was distracted by the memory. She hadn't been taking the notes for the day's lesson, which had ended moments before and left the students to their own devices for a few minutes. She'd regret it later but somehow it seemed to be a small thing to worry about compared to what was happening now. No matter which way she looked at it, whatever had happened in her bedroom had distracted Ayato from committing his heinous act. It had saved her a night of agony. As strange as it sounded, she was grateful for whoever, or whatever, it was.

Her thoughts were broken by a fluttering of papers. To her left, a shower of sheets scattered to the floor.

"Ah crud! I had 'em in order." A voice said in protest. The student was on her knees collecting the papers and trying to get them back into some form of a uniform stack.

"Here, I'll help." Offered Yui as she knelt down to pick up the further spread papers.

"Ah, thanks." The student said with a smile of relief. "I tripped over someone's bag. Go me."

When she handed the papers over, Yui got a good look at the student. She had fair skin, violet eyes and wavy shoulder length auburn hair pulled into a half up half down fashion, held in place with a yellow ribbon. Yui had to admit, she didn't look familiar. She wore their second year uniform just like her's, but her socks were the white, baggy style. When the papers were all gathered again, they both stood up.

"Thank you so much. I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't any trouble. I'm glad to help." The question struck her and was out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. "Are you a new student?" She had her answer before the girl even spoke, as she was giving her a rather curious look.

"No...? I've been here since the semester started. If there's anyone who's new here, it'd be you. Miss Komori, right?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude asking like that." Yui felt silly, but the jovial tone of voice the girl had didn't leave her feeling like she was being laughed at. Yui had never been fully observant of her classroom.

"Not rude at all. I sit behind you and I don't really talk to anyone else besides Fuyumi."

"I see."

"My name is Minako Tamura. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Yui smiled. The way Minako kept things light in their first conversation gave Yui a little pep boost from her earlier thoughts. Minako had put the worksheets on the teacher's desk and returned to her.

"You have home ec after this next class, right?"

"Yes, but how did-"

"Miss Komori, we're in the same grade. We're in, like, all the same classes." Minako looked amused at Yui's obliviousness. "Wanna walk there together?"

"Sure!"

When class ended, the students filed out of the room into the hallway. While it was best to walk directly to their next class down the hall, most of the students took their time and stood in groups to chat or gossip. Yui and Minako made their way to the classroom, able to walk and talk at the same time. Minako had been telling a story of her friend Fuyumi.

"So then I told her, 'If you're going to stay up late watching those dramas you can't complain the next day when your tired-" Her attention changed from Yui to someone ahead of them. Yui looked as well. The pair stopped as they found their way down the hall blocked by someone. Yui's heart sank slightly.

"Ah! Miss Tamura, how nice it is to see you! How is your friend doing? I haven't seen her in a while." Greeted Laito with an open smile.

He was addressing Minako like the two were acquainted. Yui thought sickly of how innocent the smile seemed yet what was going on in his head was anything but. She hid the thought behind returning a worried smile. She often forgot the Sakamakis were well and able to make friends of their own at the school.

"She's still out with a cold." Minako spoke a little more casually to Laito than she had been to Yui. "She probably won't be back for a couple more days."

"And your friends with Yui as well?"

Yui gave a mental sigh. Though rarely, he had used her name instead of that awful nickname. "No, we only just met this morning."

Minako shifted her weight from one leg to the other, favoring to lean in closer to Yui.

"Chit-chat is nice but we're gonna be late if we don't move it."

"Oh, alright." Laito sounded rather disheartened by the abrupt halt to their conversation. "Send my warmest regards to Fuyumi, Miss Tamura."

"Will do." Minako offered a beaming smile and gave a little salute of her hand. Yui followed suit, bowing her head slightly to the Sakamaki. The two continued down the hallway as the beginning chime of the bell rang through the school. Laito's smile slowly faded into a slight frown of suspicion. He placed a hand on the brim of his hat.

"Interesting..."

* * *

 _"FRIEND? HOW DARE SHE MAKE FRIEND? SHE DOES NOT NEED FRIEND SHE HAS MEE? WHAT GIVES?' calm down top hat. that's going to be them the entire fanfic basically just. HOW.. .HOW DARE U BE SOCIAL?_

 _For future reference, the music I listen to while writing these chapters is available on youtube. I might even recommend some to read during specific scenes for added immersement._

 _Lorelei's Lullaby_  
 _Horror Piano Theme_  
 _Darkest Child_  
 _A Cold Presence - Adrian von Ziegler_  
 _Ghost Bride - "_  
 _Marsh of the Undead - "_  
 _Purified - "_  
 _Red Queens Lullaby_  
 _Gothic Mirror: Derek Fiechter (they have many others in Dark/Goth playlists)_

 _I don't want large gaps of time to be between chapters but what I'm doing is trying to write out as much of this before hand so I'm not stuck posting a chapter then something down the road causes me to have to backtrack and make adjustments. So basically.. a manuscript. Or something. It's great just... I GET TO WRITE VAMPIRE TRASH EVERY DAY WHAT IS MY LIFE. END ME._

 _Once again for those of you who have read my previous uploading of this fanfic, please keep spoilers and any talk of the chapters from the reviews. Let's keep this as new a fanfic idea as I can scrape together okay. Let's not ruin anything. But I would love to hear any comments you guys might have! You have no idea how motivating it is when writers get comments on their fanfics even if it's just saying you enjoyed the chapter._


	3. Gravestone 2

It was strange, Yui thought, to have someone speak to her at school. Usually, her classmates only ever spoke to her when they needed something, or as a middleman to one of the Sakamakis. To have someone talk to her - _for her_ \- made her feel strangely pleasant. She had guessed no one looked to her for company out of her association with the Sakamaki family. They must have had more of a reputation in the school than she realized before she started attending. She was never sure if the students avoided her out of fear.. or envy.

To her surprise, Minako didn't seem bothered at all that Yui had an affiliation to that family. The following day, she had sought her out again with a question involving the homework assignment. And again during their home ec class as they were paired to make a several side dishes. Whatever she might have felt after having met Minako always drained away when classes ended and everyone went home. When she had to return with the Sakamakis to a suddenly unwelcoming house.

There was an odd tension in the air. No one liked their spontaneous uninvited guest and were even less fond of them whenever they began to act up indiscriminately. Items would still teleport around the house and the previous day, all of the faucets had been turned on just enough to cause a steady drip. Small pranks was all they were, but if they were capable of such feats on a small scale, going unnoticed until noticed, Yui worried what might happen if they were angered one day. With the building tension of the family, she had the sinking suspicion that day might be soon. She'd never seen the brothers in such a state of loss. They were used to a physical problem they could threaten away with force. What they were dealing with was beyond physical.

She recalled what Reiji had said, _"It'll be in our best interest not to anger our guest. No throwing threats or aggression. The last thing we need is them going on a rampage around the house turning everything upside down."_ Seeing the boys forced to stay in some form of a line was... interesting.

It was draining to go home and a relief to leave for school. She had something to look forward to now. _How strange_. Something that was undoubtedly normal to everyone else was a rare luxury to her.

Yui was once again in the company of Minako while they were going over their math assignment in the school's library. Minako was leaning on the table's surface with her head propped on her fist as Yui was explaining the equation in their workbook.

"Oh, so that's how you do it?"

"Yes, and then you move this over here and that's how you solve the problem." Yui smiled. She never thought helping someone else with their homework would be a fun task, especially since math wasn't one of her strong suits.

"Right, right," Minako nodded down at the paper thoughtfully, then added, "what's the 'a' for?"

 _She didn't understand the equation at all_ , Yui thought. "That's for-"

The bell rang, announcing their dinner break had started. Minako stood up with her hands raised in triumph. "Saved by the bell! I'm starving!" She had completely forgotten about the homework they were just working on.

As Yui closed her workbook and put it away in her school bag she asked, "Do you eat in the cafeteria?"

Minako had her hands on her hips, looking rather proud of herself. "Only if I'm too lazy to get something to eat before classes start." She pulled out something that had been sitting at her feet. "But today, I have this!" She was holding a lunchbox, wrapped in a light blue handkerchief. "I've been looking forward to eating it all night."

Yui was amused by the girl's enthusiasm, something she had been lacking lately. Her only company thus far had been six vampires, who didn't have to eat regular food to survive, unlike her.

"It's nice outside. Would you like to eat with me on the roof?" She offered as the two stood from the table. Minako's smile changed only slightly.

"Really? Can I?"

The question worried Yui. "Of course! Why wouldn't you be able to?"

Minako had about to reply when she glanced at something over Yui's shoulder then quickly smiled again before Yui could notice. "No reason! I just don't want to impose is all."

"Not at all. I love your company."

Minako hurried her from the table. "Let's go before my stomach becomes sentient and eats itself." The two set off towards the library's door, but Minako stopped, looking down an aisle to her right. She regarded it closely, not seeing anything, which was exactly the problem. She made a small noise, writing whatever she thought she saw off and kept walking.

On the roof, the two sat to one side where they had a perfect view of the downtown skyline of business buildings and lights.

"Whoever decided letters and numbers needed to be together really needs to get their head checked.." Minako popped the lid off her lunchbox and Yui had to look in awe.

"Wow, did your mom make you that?"

Minako looked taken aback slightly at the question. "No, I did."

"You cooked _all_ of this?" Within the lunchbox was a section of rice, two hamburger steaks, and two side dishes of what she guessed was spinach and stewed carrot, plus two pieces of rolled egg. The uncomfortable look on Minako's face vanished into pride.

"Yep! Cooking is one of the things I'm actually good at. Although, working at Gran's place probably influences it."

"Where do you work?"

"My Gran owns a local restaurant in town. I work there part time during the day."

"Oh wow. How nice."

"So I make most of my dinners for school. It's way cheaper than the stuff they offer here. Just walking into the cafeteria makes me feel dirt poor. This school is somethin' else." Minako looked over at the item in Yui's hand and held an expression of confused disbelief. "Is that all you're eating? Are you kidding me? Please tell me you're kidding."

"N-no? This is all I brought. Is there something wrong with it?"

Minako leaned in to Yui's face so quickly she leaned back and nearly fell over backwards. Her glare was so severe Yui felt a strange trickle of unease rise in the back of her mind.

"Of course there's something wrong!" Minako huffed. "Everything you eat is important and vital to your body. A riceball and a box of juice aren't going to cut it! Geeze, I feel sorry for your body if that's all you're putting in it regularly. Here, have something from mine. In fact, have half of it." She scooted her box over.

"Oh, no! I couldn't! It's _your_ dinner. I'm fine, really."

Minako wasn't having it. "I'm surrounded by food everyday. I pack enough carbs to pull a bus. You, on the other hand, look like you're missing some vitamins. Eat up."

Yui wondered if she really looked that bad. What did a vitamin deficiency look like?

"I'm packing you a dinner tomorrow loaded with stuff your body sorely needs."

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You don't have to, cause I'm doing it anyway." Her voice was so casual and decided that Yui figured she wasn't going to get her to change her mind. "You're getting a one of a kind dinner from me every night, and it's for free to boot. Are you sure you wanna turn that down?"

Once again, Yui found herself smiling, feeling that strange warm and fuzzy kind of comfort from Minako's doting.

Minako did as she promised. The following day, she was treated to a lunchbox packed with all sorts of things. Though she enjoyed it to the fullest, Yui had a small niggling feeling of guilt. It was so much work to go through just for her. When was the last time she experienced that level of kindness? She hated to admit it, but Minako had been right, she hadn't been eating well lately and it was showing in more ways than she realized. The dinner alone gave her a rather enthusiastic energy boost that carried her through the last couple classes and into cleanup.

Yui was sweeping the homeroom floor while the other students cleaned the chalkboard and desks. Minako had had to leave early to drop off her friend's homework before it got too late in the morning.

"Hey, Komori?" asked a male student.

"Yes?"

"Could you put the brooms back in the closet when you're done?"

Yui agreed as she finished her part of the classroom. Her mood had been so uplifted, things were starting to feel almost normal. Almost. She hummed a tune to herself as she put the brooms in their cabinet inside the walk in closet down the hall. She closed the cabinet doors and turned to leave, only someone was blocking her path. Maybe her jovial attitude caused her to lower her guard a little _too_ much.

Silently, as he usually enjoyed to do, Ayato was standing within an arms reach of Yui. She started, staggering back into the cabinet with a loud clang as her elbow hit the metal doors.

"A-Ayato? What-" The feeling of warmth seemed to ooze out of her as it was replaced by instinctual fear. She was cornered and Ayato had closed the door behind him.

"Everyone's gone home. Cry out for help if you want, Pancake."

"Wait-!"

Ayato went on under his breath. "And there's no books to throw in here."

"B-books?"

"Shut up and hold still."

Needless to say, her neck hurt for the rest of the evening. She couldn't look anywhere too quickly, and if she did anything to raise her pulse it ached. She didn't want to give Ayato the satisfaction of hurting her but she couldn't help it. Regrettably, she had returned to her room the moment she set foot in the house, and had remained there through the following hours until she felt the first hazy tugs of sleep. As a result, she hadn't had anything to eat since dinner time at school.

Her stomach ached so fiercely, she thought she might be sick, but she didn't dare leave her room. Not with the vampires lurking around outside, and now with their guest, she felt less inclined to go wandering around the hallways of the mansion, whether it was day or night. The internal war between remaining hungry and risking venturing out for something was balanced on both ends for their pros and cons, she couldn't decide which would win her over.

Her stomach gave a painful gurgle as she huddled on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest.  
If only she could just fall asleep and not have to worry about being hungry for a few more hours, but the ache was so loud in both her stomach and her neck that she would find it a miracle if she could even doze off.

There was a knock at the door, pulling her out of her thoughts. Her heart sank into her empty stomach. She could see a shadow underneath the crack between the door and the threshold. She had to answer, rather than risk the ire of whoever she might have ignored. She pulled open the door and looked out into the hallway.

"Yes?"

No one. The hallway was completely empty. But she had been sure the shadow under the door hadn't moved as she approached. Slowly she looked down left and right to see if someone might have been leaving, but no such luck. She took a shaky breath, knowing for certain she had heard someone knock. Either they had left.. or worse.. she just couldn't see them. She was about to close the door and retreat to her bed when she noticed something near her feet. An apple, which certainly hadn't been there before, was sitting near the door frame.

"Who left this?" She couldn't imagine any of the boys being sympathetic to her plight enough to leave her anything. Maybe one of the servants had left it. Yui was always polite whenever she ran into them in the mansion or had a request. If not them... then who?

No, that would be silly, probably even conceited as the boys were quick to remind her. Why would she expect their guest to care? Still, it would be rude to refuse it... wouldn't it?

He wasn't sure which was more satisfying. Drinking Pancake's blood or seeing the look of terror she often gave him. Maybe both? He mused over that thought- as well as noting that she tasted unusually better than she had in the past - as he lay on his side on the sofa. The television was on at a low volume, more so for background noise than entertainment. Even then, he watched the game broadcast idly as his mind wandered off.

A splutter of static disrupted the screen and warped the audio. He only noticed the tail end of it, so late, he wondered if he'd just imagined something else. He stared at the screen for several seconds. Nothing else happened, but now his attention was caught. A moment later, the screen static-ed again, and this time the display seemed to double over on itself before blipping back to normal.

He switched off the TV. He wasn't paying much attention to it anyway. He flopped onto his back and closed his eyes to kill some time with a nap. He heard a pop of static. The TV had turned itself back on. The screen was almost obliterated by static and the audio was warped beyond discernible words.

Any emotion within the family of 'fear' was an unknown sensation to the vampire. There wasn't much in the world that could make him hesitate. Yet, as he watched the staticy screen, he couldn't help but notice a peculiar feeling of.. paranoia? Just the thought made him feel distinguished. How could he, Your's Truly, be brought to feel such emotions by something yet seen?

The screen blipped, and through the static he could see the channel had changed. Another blip, the channel switched. The pattern increased until the screen was flipping through channels a mile a minute, filling the room with a horrible, fizz filled distorted sound. Having enough of it, Ayato moved to the back of the TV, yanked the cord from the outlet and tossed it aside. That was that, in his mind.

He turned to leave, one foot barely in the hallway when he heard the distinct high pitched sound of the TV turning on. He slowly looked back into the room. As he guessed, the screen was back on, the outlet plug lying visibly on the floor. Through bursts of static, he could see the goings on of a basketball game.

His attention was ripped from the possessed television by a sound down the hallway. A distinct sound he could easily place. A ball bouncing over and over, just around the corner of the hallway leading towards the back of the house. He wasn't keen on finding out who was playing with a basketball, but he also wasn't going to be frightened off by seemingly sentient air.

He followed the sound, expecting the culprit to be just out of sight - it sounded so close. He rounded the corner in a quick step and was met with an empty hallway. The sound of the ball had moved in that one instant, again out of sight around another corner where a hallway joined the current one in a 'T' formation. Baited by the noise, Ayato approached the gap of the wall when the sound altogether stopped.

His apprehension was replaced with annoyance. "I don't feel like playing games." He warned. Naturally, no one responded, leaving him to feel rather foolish talking to an empty space. He'd rather hit the thing to get his point across than be made an idiot.

Something rolled into view from the joining hallway. A basketball sat innocently on the floor in the middle of the carpet. Ayato only stared. He wasn't falling for a trick like that. He was only mildly caught off guard when the ball suddenly rose about three feet into the air, hovering completely still as if waiting for him. He had the numb realization that, though he only saw a ball floating in the middle of the hallway, he might have been looking into the face of his harasser.

The ball dropped and bounced back to its original height, as if caught by invisible hands. It dropped again and bounced up. Again and again. With each bounce it seemed to move a little closer, and began to bounce a little faster. The sound echoed off the walls and down the empty hallway.

Ayato, hardly realizing it, had begun to raise an arm in defense. He half expected the ball to suddenly hurtle at his head. Closer and closer the ball bounced, louder and louder the sound became. Each bounce almost felt as if it were pounding inside his own head.

"Ayato!" A voice cut sharply from down the hallway. The ball dropped from the air, bouncing and rolling until it stopped at his feet. The voice belonged to Reiji, a rather annoyed one at that, as he rounded the corner. "How many times have I told you not to play with that infernal thing in the house?"

"It wasn't me!" Ayato retorted, but even the honest truth sounded weak when spoken aloud. Reiji only gave him a stern look, looking from the ball, to him, to the empty hallway - with only a flick of his eyes.

"Whatever excuse you might have, the rules of this house are absolute. I don't want to so much as see or hear that ball again. Am I clear?"

Ayato didn't reply, but that seemed to be enough confirmation for the older vampire. Ayato only watched as Reiji took his leave down the hallway he had come from. He clenched his fists and glared down at the ball. Not only was it pestering him, but now it was getting him into unwarranted trouble. In a burst of frustrated anger, he kicked it, sending it rocketing off down the long hallway.

He might have noticed there wasn't a distant sound of collision, were his head not filled with anger induced thoughts, but he certainly heard a nearby sound as he turned to leave. He stopped, looking over his shoulder.

The ball was back on the carpet.. in the same spot before he had kicked it.

* * *

 _Ask and you shall recieve_


	4. Gravestone 3

A couple days later, Yui and Minako were on their way to the rooftop to eat their school dinner. The air was fresh and cool, considering they had had rain the day before. It was a pleasant, calming aroma to take in.

"Fresh air is the best." said Minako, prompting Yui to wonder if she had somehow read her mind. "Perfect for when you're feeling under the weather. I like to be sure Fuyumi has her window open during the day when she gets sick."

"You care so much for your friend." Yui smiled. "It's so sweet."

"Well, she has an immune system about as strong as a wet paper bag." Minako seemed rather bashful at her remark. "And we've been friends for about six years. I'd be a pretty bad person if I wasn't concerned when she was sick." She held up the bag holding two lunchboxes. "And now that we're friends, I get to worry about you!"

"Oh, no! Please, I'm fine. You don't always have to worry about me."

Minako looked up thoughtfully, then smiled with satisfaction. "Right. I'll worry about you _often_ then."

There was no winning with her. Yui smiled as they walked to their favorite spot on the roof. Minako was several steps ahead of her as she rounded the corner of what was guessed to be a maintanence shed. Yui heard a short gasp of surprise, or rather, shock.

"What is it?" she asked, unable to see what Minako was reacting to.

"Y-Yui... there's a d-dead b-body-" Minako said shakily. She was looking down at something.

Yui walked around her to inspect what she said. To her relief, she thought so anyway, it wasn't a dead body.

"Oh.. that's Shu. He's not dead." She informed quietly. The vampire had his headphones in but she wasn't sure if he was listening to anything. Shu usually didn't just appear for no reason. Then again, he spent most of his time sleeping in random places at school.

"Are you s-sure?" Minako whispered, looking wary. "I don't see him breathing."

"He's fine. He just sleeps a lot."

Minako looked unnerved at the presence of the boy. She stepped behind Yui, placed her hands on her shoulders, and wheeled her to another part of the roof - well away from the sleeping student.

They were on the opposite side of their favorite spot, but it seemed to be a distance enough to put Minako at ease. She sat down, glancing back at the maintanence shed. Before Yui could say anything, she pulled out the two lunchboxes and passed one to her. Yui popped off the lid and gave a small gasp.

"Wow! Your cooking skills will never cease to amaze me, Minako."

"Good, good. Well, keep going, my ego needs the validation."

"I'm going to get spoiled if you keep doing this."

"Judging by your previous diet, you deserve it."

Yui gave a grateful nod and took her first couple bites of food. Each part of the dish was so perfect and flavorful , she nearly forgot she was eating for the health benefits. Minako had been picking at her's, distracted. Yui was oddly aware of how much she was looking at something just below her chin. For a second, Yui worried Minako might have seen the healing puncture wounds on her neck. Usually her collar and hair hid it.

"W-what is it?"

"Nothing. Just looking at your necklace."

"My necklace?" Yui looked down as though she forgot she were wearing such an item. Minako was talking about her cross pendant.

"Can I see?" Minako asked.

"Oh, sure." Yui unclipped the chain and handed it to her. Minako took the pendant and looked it over between her fingers. When she seemed satisfied, she handed it back.

"Are you the religious type?"

Yui had to think. She had been - or at least had never questioned her faith before meeting the Sakamakis.

"Yes and no, I guess."

"Yes and no..?"

Yui clipped the necklace back on. "I was raised by my father. He's a preist."

Minako had the tip of her chopsticks to her lip. "Whoa, can't get more religious than that."

Yui gave a small shake of her head. "Not really, if you think of it that way. While I did go to church and I have my beliefs, I'm not extreme about it." Thinking about her father was painful. He had raised her since infancy, only to abandon her to a family of bloodthirsty vampires. She had never been able to get in contact to ask him why, although she eventually got her answer all the same.

Minako was watching Yui's saddening expression gradually get worse. Yui's thoughts were immediately halted when a piece of hamburg steak was pressed to her lips. She looked at Minako in surprise.

"Eat." She urged. Yui opened her mouth and accepted the bite. The thoughts disappeared as she found a strange comfort in their meal. The wonders a good, homecooked dinner could do. As they finished their boxes, Minako looked like she had something on her mind but couldn't find a way to bring it up.

"Hey, Yui?"

"Hm?"

"I don't mean to pry or anything - okay maybe I do a little bit, but could I ask you a question?"

"...Sure." Yui had a momentary sinking feeling in her chest.

"So, if you were raised by a priest-dad, what.. do you have to do with those guys?" She made a small pointing gesture back to the maintanence shed.

The question wasn't as bad as she feared but it was still tricky to answer without raising suspicion. In her quiet, Minako suddenly seemed flustered that she asked something too personal.

"I mean, you don't have to answer! It's just.. I hear the other girls talking and I was just starting to wonder.."

There had been rumours circulating ever since Yui first started attended the school with the brothers. She wondered what things Minako might have heard. "It's a difficult situation to explain but.. I'm living with them."

Minako looked as if it was an answer she hadn't been wanting to hear and let out a breath. She looked concerned and at a loss for words. Disbelieving. "Is.. is that.. _safe?"_

The short answer was 'no'. The long answer was 'my life itself is threatened on a daily basis by not one, but six vampires with varying degress of cruelty'. Neither answer she felt the safety or freedom to say. Just mentioning the brothers alawys seemed to summon them somehow.

"They might be intimidating but they're not bad." She replied feebily.

Minako raised her eyebrows, not looking very convinced. "Well, I don't envy you that's for sure. I feel sorry for the girls in this school that do."

Yui had a morbid thought wondering how long any of the students would survive in her place. Minako popped open the tab of her juice can. The carbonation fizzled and she held it away from her.

"All the girls at this school _love_ them. Heck, I'd say some of the boys do too. It's like they're all idols with their own fanbases." She looked at Yui as a thought struck her. "They're.. _not_ idols, are they? It'd explain how most of them look like eye-candy."

"No, they're not idols." Yui was amused by the idea. She wasn't going to mention that one such vampire attending the school was in fact an idol.

"I don't see what's so great about them. They're like..." She cast her eyes around as if searching for the correct word, then glanced down at her lunchbox. "like deceitful tomatos."

"..Tomatos?"

Minako held up a cherry tomato to prove whatever point she was trying to make. "The outside can be the reddest, ripest, juiciest looking tomato in the world, but if the inside is black and rotten, the whole thing is bad." She looked at Yui for an indication that she was following her train of thought. "I mean, who wants to be around anything rotten right?"

Yui could only smile warily. Minako was stomping on eggshells without realizing it.

"Don't tell them I said that though!" She added hastily.

"Of course I won't." Yui was accustomed to hearing the female students sing their praises about the Sakamakis that it was a little strange to find one who didn't seem all that interested. Maybe Minako was.. level headed? Her confidence in their friendship felt could confide her worries to her without feeling judged, she hoped anyway.

Footsteps behind Yui inturrupted their convresation.

"Is there no place in this school free from noise?" Asked a low, sleepy voice. Yui started and turned around. She had forgotten Shu had been sleeping nearby.

"Ah! The sloth _is_ alive, thank god!" Minako said with a exasperated sigh.

"Sloth?" echoed Shu. He regarded Minako with a curious expression. Since he was in a different grade and spent most of his time playing hookie, this was the first time encountering her. Still, he looked a little.. transfixed? Minako had been holding Shu's gaze.

"I'm sorry, Shu. Did we wake you?" Yui asked.

"Not that he should be sleeping at school anyway." Minako muttered, taking a last bite of her meal.

"And you're going to scold me?" The vampire asked cooly.

Minako averted her eyes, becoming uncomfortable. "N-no."

The corner of Shu's mouth twitched upwards, but his expression remained wholly uninsterested. Now knowing how Minako felt about the brothers, Yui became somewhat worried and searched for a change in conversation.

"O-our next class is starting soon. We should get going."

"Good call." Minako collected their lunchboxes back into the bag. "Sleeping Beauty wants his sleep, so we should leave quickly."

Yui stood up with Minako following suit. "Sorry we disturbed you, Shu." Yui dipped her head quickly and began walking towards the stairwell on the other side of the roof.

"Aah.. " Was all Shu replied with as he scratched the back of his head sleepily. At least he acknowledged her apology.

Minako had to throw away her juice can, the task putting her only a moment behind Yui. She dropped the can into the recycle bin near the stairwell door when a voice crept up behind her.

"So.. we're like rotten tomatos, are we?"

Minako jumped slightly, her eyes wide and her mouth in a grimace. She took a second to collect her thoughts and slowly turned around. "Ah, crud, you heard that?" She couldn't feign innocence. "Well - I - uh..." Her voice stumbled and trailed away. "just... call it like I see it."

Shu continued to watch her, his face expressionless. Minako was both flustered and annoyed by his lack of.. anything. When she piped up again her voice was rushed. "What am I supposed to think?! Ever since I started talking to Yui, you guys have all been shooting me death glares! It's rude." She huffed. Shu was standing between she and the doorway, she couldn't politely get around him. She shook her head. "Forget I said anything, oka-"

"What do you want with her?"

His question was so abrupt, Minako needed a second to process it. She looked at him incredulously. "I - wh- what? She's not allowed to have friends or something?"

Shu didn't grace her with an answer and instead asked another question. "What's your name?"

Minako's shoulders dropped, her riled up agitation quickly deflating. "Why do yo care?" The hardness in her voice was gone. Shu continued to look her over as if trying to find some sort of detail she didn't feel comfortable with him finding. She became increasingly nervous, however, she still challenged his stare with one of her own. Finally, she had to relent when a tentative call from Yui down the stairwell inturrupted them.

"Minako... Tamura. Now wouldja please move? Class is starting."

Shu took a couple steps away from the door, but her personal space bubble was still going to be invaded in order to pass him. She took a step down the first stair when his low, lethargic voice spoke again.

"Mina.. ko?"

Minako stopped as if she had touched something gross. "Yeah- when you say it, it gives me the hibbie-jibbies." She continued her desceant. "Later."

He continued to watch her disappear down the winding stairwell a moment before his eyes looked away. A small twitch of a smile disrupted his apathetic gaze.

Minako had been right about fixing her diet. Her lack of proper meals had been affecting her mentality more so than she realized. Now with the boost from her last few box lunches, Yui was feeling considerably better. However, when she showed a positive mood, it was bound to attract attention from the others. They gave her little reason to be happy about anything. She'd have to be careful.

What with their guest causing havoc around the house, everyone else had been thrown out of sorts. All things considered, they were moreso trickster than a pest, at least to Yui. She was almost amused by their antics.

Maybe she could do something to cheer up the others? But... what? Offering her blood was certainly out of the question, but she could offer something equally edible.

She spent most of the night in the kitchen, careful not to make a mess as she baked two dozen madeleines; one of her favorite types of cookie that paired well with tea. She left a few plain, and dipped another handful in melted chocolate, but that left the other half with nothing.

"I wonder what I could do with these.." She wondered aloud. As she pondered her options, she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. Admittedly, she was startled, she had been so engrossed in baking, she practically forgot where she was. The kitchen was one of the few places ideal for corner her in -another being the bathroom or her bedroom. Bjut it wasn't a body she had seen moving. It had been so quick, she wondered if she had imagined it. No sooner had the doubt crossed her mind when it happened again.

The plate of madeleines moved, abruptly scooting an inch away from her. She watched in numb shock as the plate jerked again, nearing the edge of the counter. Finally her voice started working. "S-stop! You'll knock them over!"

The plate stopped, but now the whisk started rolling across the counter in a circular pattern. Behind her, one by one, the cabinet doors swung open in quick succession. Even the drawers slid open. Yui was unable to move. She felt surrounded by an enetity she couldn't see. Filled with the same kind of fear she had experienced before, her instincts telling her something was there. She wanted to run yet was terrified and locked up.

The cabinet doors began alternateively closing and opening, thudding against the hinges and frames each time.

"Y-you're scaring me." Her voice was so small, was she even audible? "Please stop.."

For so long, Yui had been used to an environment where even when speaking politely, most of her requests to cease an action went ignored. She only realized this fact as the cabinet doors closed, the whisk stopped rolling in circles, and all together the feeling of dread disappeared. The kitchen felt oddly empty now, more so than it had before the activity started.

How long had that thing been in there with her?

 _Are they gone?_ Yui remained still for a long moment, waiting, listening.

Nothing.

Her choking sensation of fear was completely gone. Strange. Perhaps their guest wasn't all that bad? Frightful, yes, but less malicious than her instincts lead her to believe. She would count her blessings that, for now, they were gone.

If she didn't clean up the kitchen, Reiji would be upset, leaving a hasty retreat out of the question. She dropped a few madeleines into wax paper bags until they were all packaged away. She wasn't sure who in the house would eat them but at least they were available to satisfye a sweet tooth.

"Ah! I know. I'll give some to Minako tomorrow. She'll be so surprised." The thought brought up Yui's shaken nerves.

"I thought I smelled something sweet." Said a voice at the kitchen entrance. Yui looked up from her work.

"Oh, Kanato." Yui was considerably less on edge at his appearance. Kanato loved swees, it was only natural to expect him to show up. "I just finished baking some madeleines, would you like some?" She held up the closed bag in her hands in offering.

Kanato regarded her closely, an expression she often didn't like. "Before that, I heard you saying something out loud."

"Mm? Oh that-"

"Mind telling me what it was?"

Yui never enjoyed feeling interrogated, it was such an invasion of privacy. If she let slip now her closeness to Minako, she wasn't sure what would happen. Kanato was undoubtably familiar with her, as they shared the same class, but to put it into words would mean solid verval evidence. She tried to steel her voice.

"I was talking about the madeleines and who would eat them. Here, these are for you." Not far from the truth, but he must have picked up on the unsure tone of her voice.

"If you're covering up what you said, it must be something you didn't want me to hear, is that correct?"

"It's not-"

"Were you speaking ill of me?"

To jump to such an assumption, Yui was taken aback. "No! I wasn't saying anything like that. I was just-"

"Then what did you say?"

 _Well, I'm trying to explain that..._ Yui was at a loss. She hadn't even thought about him but she didn't want to put her friend in danger. She had already told him the technical truth, but he wasn't satisfied with that.

"Why are you being so quiet?!" His voice was so sudden and loud that Yui jumped slightly. "You did say something bad about me after all, didn't you?! Is that why you're not answering?!" His voice felt so loud in the confines of the kitchen. The louder his voice rose, so did the panic Yui was feeling. "You were making fun of me behind my back weren't you?!"

Kanato swung his hand hard and smacked Yui's offering away. The madeleines slammed onto the ground, cracking or all together falling apart.

"Kanato!" Yui said in shock, holding one hand in the other. "Please.. calm down. There's nothing to be angry about-"

"Calm down?! After such disrespectful treatment, how can you expect me to be calm?!"

Though she was understandably terrified, she was fighting back the urge to cry. She couldn't always be intimidated by the vampires, even if it meant they'd become angry. She looked down at the broken madeleines she had so enjoyed making. Now they were ruined.

"I really didn't say anything bad about you!" She was surprised to hear anger in her own voice. "I wasn't even talking about you at all!"

Their altercation left them unaware of the person looking into the room from the doorway. Their gaze moved from the human, to the vampire, down to the cookies, and back to the vampire.

 _Such a conceited brat_

Yui's attention was suddenly caught. She sucked in a breath, her mind halted. "D-did you hear a voice just now?"

Kanato was visibly agitated that Yui's attention had been snagged from his tantrum. "A voice? What a foolish thing to ask."

But she was sure she heard it. Then it quickly dawned on her that she hadn't heard it by ear, but inside her head. _Was it talking about me?_

 _\- he needs to learn to shut his mouth -_

The voice was filled with an anger that quickly upset her stomach. It had a slithering sort of voice she might have expected to hear from a snake or some other such unnerving creature. Her heart was pounding, it felt like her body was heating up. She was hearing someone else's voice inside her own mind, alongside her own thoughts.

Her eyes caught movement, a change in the scenery. Beside the doorway, she saw a... silhouette, standing just out of sight of the door frame. They were obscured in blackness, their image out of focus, overlapped several times at varying intervals of movement.

"Don't ignore me!" Shouted Kanato, forcing Yui's attention back on him. In the instant it took for her to look at him, the entity also moved. It stood behind Kanato, standing inches over him. The shadow raised a thin, pointed finger to its grinning mouth in a shushing gesture before it disappeared.

Yui felt like she was going to be sick, and having Kanato hounding her wasn't helping. He hadn't noticed the entity at all, but he had seen her eyes looking at something over his shoulder.

"Clearly you don't know the meaning of showing respect to those above you."

Yui might have mentioned they were the same age, but he was angry enough as it was. "I-I'm sorry. I really am." Her voice shook. Kanato mistook her unease as something he caused, as an amused smile lit up his face.

"What a stupid look you have, Yui. Like you've seen a gho-"

At the mention of the word, Yui's body kicked into gear. She walked past him, catching him off guard. "Please excuse me." Was all she managed to say before she fled down the hallway to her room

 _What odd behavior,_ the boy thought. "I don't think I was that frightening, was I, Teddy?" Kanato spoke to the stuffed bear toy he held in his arms. The house was quiet. His brothers were all off keeping themselves busy. He had hoped to find some form of entertainment from Yui, but that was a dead end. He walked along the hallway to the stairs. In the end, he might as well retire for the day.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Teddy. But don't worry. We'll get her next time for sure."

He walked on, not fully paying attention to his surroundings. Why should he? He was a vampire, he had very little to fear. In fact, there was nothing in this ugly world that could possibly frighten him.

Through his thoughts he heard something. What could it have been? The hallway was empty, besides he and Teddy. Perhaps their 'guest' was up to no good again. Turning portraits upside down or switching around furniture. What a pest, he sneered. A cowardly creature. Skulking in the shadows, never seen or heard, only noticed. Only a coward would behave in such a way, he thought. Nothing to fear.

 _Clak.. clak.. clak_

He heard it that time. Footsteps. They were somewhere nearby, behind him. Why didn't they say anything? "Don't I even warrant a 'good evening'? Everyone in this house has become so rude -" He looked over his shoulder to scold his sibling.

Empty.

His brothers weren't the type to stomach a scolding, but he at least expected them to stick around long enough until he finished speaking. His mood was just getting worse. Not several steps into his returned path, he heard it again.

 _Clak.. clak.. clak_

He was getting annoyed. "What do you want?! I'm not in the mood for games!" When he turned around, the hallway was still empty. Probably Ayato or Laito playing a trick on him. He'd catch them next time. With measured steps, he began walking once more. He listened intently for the second the footsteps began. His brothers could teleport fast, but not so quick that he wouldn't see something.

This time the second set of footsteps took slightly longer to start. Once he heard the first contact, he turned around. His 'aha!' moment was once again thwarted by an empty hallway. Only, the footsteps kept going. They echoed without a pinpointed source down the hall, as if someone were approaching at a leisurely pace. Then he realized he wasn't hearing the sound of shoes on carpet, as his were. He was hearing the sharp, precise sound of heels on tile.

 _Clak.. clak.. clak_

The hallway was empty, yet the sounds were getting closer. Each click of the heel echoed less as it neared. It had to be one of his brothers, it had to. But even as he assured himself of this, he watched as _something_ appeared down the hallway, fading in from nothing at all.

A woman, tall and thin, with a grayed complexion slowly approached. Her figure was covered in a white bodice, the rest obscured by the round flow of a ball gown, white as snow. In her gloved hands she held a bouquet of wilted flowers. She faced forward, walking slowly as a bride would down the aisle.

Kanato's eyes were wide as he stared at the sight. She looked like one of his mannequins he collected, only her dark hair was shaken free of its updo, long and loose, looking distressed though her face lacked any emotion. She had stopped walking several paces away from him.

All was quiet, except for the rustle of the wedding gown. Her head moved slowly, deliberately. The sheer mesh veil did little to mask the lifeless eyes looking in his direction. Unfocused, trained on something slightly below his head as if fixed in place. Her head was lifting upwards. On her neck he could see a thick, purple-black rope bruise. Her eyes moved, rickety like a dolls, sliding upwards until they focused dead center on him.

The bouquet dropped, her empty hands held up as if begging to touch him. Her gown rustled as she began to walk forward, her steps not as gliding as before, but as if her knees were rusted joints.

Kanato was not all too eager to find out what this bride intended to do to him, and he wasn't about to find out. Hugging Teddy tight, the young vampire took several back pedaling steps.

"N-no way-!" He said in a shaky breath. "You can't be moving... it's not possible."

"... Kanato.. " the woman sighed, her voice sounding hardly more than a whisper.

"Y-you're dead! How is this-"

"I've missed you.. " She reached for him. Kanato dodged and used his momentum to throw himself into a run. He didn't stop until he slammed his bedroom door behind him. Despite the situation, he laughed between gasps. How could this be possible? It couldn't - it just couldn't. Those girls.. they were all dead. He knew they were. The dead don't just come back to life. And yet what he had seen was contradicting that belief.

"D-don't be scared, Teddy." He sat on his bed, holding the bear close. "I'll take care of this." Strong words were betrayed by the waver in his voice. "I didn't do anything wrong.. why is it coming after me?"

 _Clak.. clak.. clak_

Sharp and clear on the other side of his door. A shadow stopped, blocking the thin light above the threshold gap. Kanato pulled his knees to his chest. The doorknob turned, clanking against the locking mechanism. Again, it clanked.

 _Knock... knock... knock..._

Kanato remained silent, unmoving, pretending the room was vacant.

The whisper of the voice came through the door. "Kanato... please open the door." The voice was muffled, but he could hear it was on the verge of tears. Another rap of a knuckle on wood. "Please let me in.. " The voice sounded warbled, as if he were hearing it through water. "It's so cold.. Kanato.." The doorknob turned again. "I miss you so much.. please let me in.."

He did nothing.

The door began to rattle.

"Kanato! Let - me - in!" A harder force hit the door, a fist or a full hand slamming against it. Kanato felt something within him shake involuntarily. The door shook in its frame. The boy covered his ears. He couldn't bring himself to shout in protest.

All together, the cacophony of sound stopped, as if someone flipped a switch. He looked up to see the shadow beneath the door was gone. He might have felt relief.. had he not noticed an icy, cold sensation slide over his shoulders and across his chest.

* * *

 _Let it be known here and now, Kanato is my least favorite of the sakamakis. Or the most hated I should say. I hate this kid so much that I can't understand how people like him, if people like him. I see cosplayers of him at conventions sometimes and I'm just 'WHY.' I wanna put this boy into a woodchipper feet first and mount Teddy's head on a plaque on a wall as a trophy for fricks sake I hate him so much._

 _Anyway, enjoy a new chapter for the trash vampires, hopefully this story is going somewhere good idk man. I make no promises that I know what I'm even doing anymore. Try to keep the reviews generic if possible I'm trying to build up suspense or something._


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